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The Faculty of Engineering organized two credit bearing summer programs. The first program ” ENGG1901 Engineering the Climate Change” was completed on Jul 13, 2012. Fifty students from different countries such as Mainland China, Australia, UK, France, India and Vietnam joined this one week intensive course. Some of them are from the top universities around the world such as UC Berkeley, Oxford University, University of Technology of Sydney, Fudan University, Peking University, and Renmin University of China.

After Prof. Norman Tien, the Dean of Engineering, presented his welcome speech, a series of lectures, workshops, technical visits and group presentation began.

The course leader Dr. Wilton Fok gave a series of lectures including “Climate Change and Engineering “, “Green ICT” and “Electrical Vehicle” in the course. Other teachers from the faculty such as Dr. C.H. Liu and Dr. Sam Hui from the Department of Mechanical Engineering talked about the topics on “Climate Change and Urbanization” and “Green Building” respectively. Dr. Jin Zhong from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering gave a lecture on “Smart Grid for Renewable Energy Management “. Students also conducted a hands-on workshop on “Vacuum for energy saving” supervised by Dr. H.N. Lam of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Besides lectures by our faculty teachers, Dr. Rob Jarman, the Acting Dean of Engineering of the University of Technology of Sydney, was also invited as a visiting scholar and lectured a topic on “Renewable Energy” in this course. Ms. Ann Kildahl, the Manager of the HKU Sustainability Office, and Ms. Joy Lam also introduced the initiatives on sustainability in HKU for the students.

Besides lectures and workshops, some technical visits were organized as well, such as the field trip to the Building Service Lab, Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong Science Museum, CLP Power Plant in Castle Peak, sustainable development facilities HKU and the energy efficiency gallery in the headquarters of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. On the first evening, the group also experienced the ever green transportation vehicle – The Hong Kong Tramway and enjoyed the welcome dinner on the tram.

By the end of the course, students were required to give a group presentation to address the problems and solutions of climate change. The judges, Dr. Wilton Fok and Dr. Rob Jarman, were very impressed by the enthusiasm and innovative ideas of the students. Students also gave feedback that the course could help them understand more about the problem of climate change and they determined to apply their engineering knowledge in practical use for a better environment for our future.

Day 1 morning: Lecture and campus visit

Prof. Norman Tien, the Dean of Engineering, presented a welcome speech to the course delegates

Mr. Frankie Cheung, the Senior IT Manager of the Computer Centre, introduced the green ICT measures taken in the HKUCC Data Centre